I've been back two weeks now with plans of going back to Africa but I'm still reflecting on my time and the lessons learned. For the past three months, I spent time in church listening in Afrikaans. Although I loved the cultural experience, I was thankful to worship in English this morning. The message that stuck out to me brought me back to my time in the desert in Namibia, one of the sweetest times in my life where i grew, learned and loved. Let me take you back to our first weeks in the desert, quite possibly some of the hardest two weeks: adjusting to a new culture, death in our teammates families, getting used to new people and a whole new environment. The kids were so welcoming and loving. They threw their arms around us and loved us without end. Before long, hundreds of kids were spouting their names left and right. Constantly, they were asking us "what's my name?" The sinking in my heart when I couldn't remember will not be forgotten. As I got to know them, I learned their names, mannerisms, and more about their life.
I began to think of God. He doesn't need that time to get to know us. Those kids didn't need us to know their names, they had a BIG God who knew their name. He knows my name. He knows our futures, our lives, beginning and end.
He knows my name. What a powerful message. In church this morning, a song played. "Like the dawn, He is faithful." I thought back to the sunrise in the desert, over kids who didn't have much, who didn't need much but God to know their name.
As I am lost, unsure of my next step after Africa again, I can rest that I am seated and Jesus knows my name. He doesn't count the time I spent in jail, he doesn't count my life off the beaten path, he doesn't count my faults but He knows my name and He saved me. As I prepare to step out in faith, I want to remember names but I also want to spread the message that Jesus knows YOUR name. And that's the only promise we need.
